Mobeen Azhar (born 1980)[citation needed] is a British journalist, radio and television presenter, and filmmaker of Pakistani heritage.[1] He produces investigative reports and films for the BBC exploring themes related to politics, true crime, extremism, counter terrorism and sexuality. He has presented and produced international documentaries forBBC One,BBC Two andBBC Three.
Azhar has fronted radio programmes on theBBC Asian Network[2]BBC Radio 4 andBBC Radio 5 Live. Since 2022, he has presented theOutlook strand on theBBC World Service. He also presents theLives Less Ordinary podcast made by the BBC World Service and available onBBC Sounds,Spotify andApple.
In2017, he won aBritish Academy Television Award for producing the BBC seriesMuslims Like Us[3] and in 2020, he won aRoyal Television Society Award for presenting BBC documentaryHometown: A Killing.[4] In 2019, Azhar became a presenter on the new BBC Three showPlastic Surgery Undressed.[5]
In 2019, Azhar became a founding partner in the independent production company Forest. In 2023, Azhar presented the documentaryPredator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, centered onthe sexual abuse claims againstJohnny Kitagawa, which helped posthumously expose his crimes.
Azhar was born and raised inHuddersfield inYorkshire. His parents had emigrated fromPakistan.[6] His father was a bus driver and a shop keeper[7] who encouraged Azhar to go to university.[7]
At university, Azhar gained a law degree and master's degree intheology. He returned to studybroadcast journalism atLeeds Trinity University after working for a charity.[8]
In 2012, Azhar was part of a team reporting fromWaziristan inPakistan on USdrone strikes on theAfghan border for aBBC Panorama special,The Secret Drone War.[8][9]
In August 2013, he investigated gay life in urban Pakistan forAssignment: Inside Gay Pakistan on theBBC World Service and onBBC Radio 4.[10]
Azhar has written about and reported extensively on musicianPrince. In 2015, he presented BBC documentaryHunting for Prince's Vault,[11][12] and in September 2016, Azhar's debut bookPrince Stories from the Purple Underground: 1958–2016 was published byWelbeck Publishing.[13][14]
In 2016, Azhar joined a police team of "Taliban Hunters" inKarachi, Pakistan, as part of documentary reporting for BBC'sPanorama.[15] During filming he was shot at by theTaliban.[16]
In February 2016, Azhar presented the BBC Three documentaryWebcam Boys, spending a couple of months with men who make money from performing in online sex shows.[17]
In 2019, Azhar presented BBC documentariesThe Satanic Verses: 30 Years On,[18]A Black and White Killing: The Case that Shook America[19] andThe Best Pakistani Transgender Retirement Home.[20]
The same year, Azhar also presented six-part BBC documentary series,Hometown: A Killing, reporting on the policeshooting of Yassar Yaqub inHuddersfield in 2017.[21][22] Yasser Yaqub's father, Mohammed Yaqub, who featured in the series, claimed Azhar had attempted to "smear" his son's name.[23]Huddersfield MPBarry Sheerman also criticised the programme, claiming it depicted the town as "a hotbed of violent crime".[24] Thedocu-series went on to win several awards.[25][26][27]
During the same year, Azhar became a presenter on the BBC Three showPlastic Surgery Undressed, alongsideVogue Williams.[28]
In 2020, two additional episodes ofHometown: A Killing were released on BBC Three and BBC One. An accompanying six-part podcast was released onBBC Sounds.
In May 2021, Azhar presented a BBC Two documentaryThe Battle For Britney: Fans, Cash, And A Conservatorship, reporting fromCalifornia andLouisiana on the#FreeBritney movement who claim music starBritney Spears is being "kept a virtual prisoner in her own home" through a conservatorship managed by her father.[29][30][31] Spears was reported to have criticized the documentary, describing it as "hypocritical".[32]
In July 2021, Azhar presentedSecrets of an ISIS Smartphone on BBC Three and BBC One. Filmed in the UK, the documentary used footage from the smartphones of British men who had travelled toSyria to joinISIS. TheFinancial Times said the film provided "an unexpected insight".[citation needed]
In August 2022, Azhar presented a five-part BBC seriesScam City: Money, Mayhem and Maseratis, investigating the world ofInstagram scams, forex trading andpyramid schemes.[33][34][35]
In November 2022, Azhar presented a six-part true-crime seriesSanta Claus the Serial Killer on the relaunchedBBC Three channel, exploring the case of serial killerBruce McArthur.[36] The series was filmed in Canada and explores themes of race, faith, culture and sexuality.[37][38]The Guardian criticised the series: "At times there is a sense that this is less an investigation and more a whistlestop tour of the Bruce McArthur murder tourism industry. These people have told their stories countless times now, and there is something truly unedifying about Azhar's (and the audience's) willingness to rubberneck at so much well-worn trauma."
Azhar was appointed a member of the Advisory Board for the 2022Edinburgh International Television Festival, led byAfua Hirsch, appointed Advisory Chair in March 2022.[39]
In March 2023, Azhar presentedPredator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop, a documentary exploringallegations of sexual abuse against Japanese pop mogulJohnny Kitagawa. Filmed inTokyo, the programme was broadcast onBBC Two.[40][41]The Guardian praised the documentary, calling it "a breathtaking look at Japan's paedophile boyband 'god'." The documentary went on to be broadcast onABC in Australia,BBC Select in North America and BBC News Japan. Following the broadcast, Japanese Prime MinisterFumio Kishida announced a ministerial meeting to address the subject of child sexual abuse. In Summer 2023 a major overhaul of sexual crimes legislation was enacted in Japan. The age of consent was increased from 13 to 16; a new legal definition of rape was also introduced. In August 2023, theUnited Nations set up a task force to report on exploitation in the workplace within entertainment, concluding that Kitagawa had acted "with impunity" and recommended that survivors of abuse receive compensation. An external investigation recommended thatJohnny & Associates CEO Julie Fujishima, who is Kitagawa's niece, stand down. In September 2023, Azhar received the Freedom of the Press Award from theForeign Correspondence Club of Japan in acknowledgement of his work and the widespread impact of the documentary.
In February 2023, the BBC announced Azhar would front a new documentary and podcast aboutKanye West "unfolding against the backdrop ofYe’s 2024 election campaign, and at a time when his behaviour has sparked outrage and a re-evaluation of his place in popular culture". Provisionally titledWe Need to Talk about Kanye, the documentary was broadcast onBBC Two and ran alongside an accompanying eight-part podcast series onBBC Music, calledThe Kanye Story on BBC Sounds.[42][43][44] The film was acquired byBinge in Australia,CBC in Canada and multiple broadcasters in Europe.The Guardian called the film a "hugely impressive documentary" that "holds the far right figurehead to account." TheJewish Chronicle review referred to Azhar as "intelligent, disarming and likeable" and concluded the documentary made for "distressing viewing."The Independent concluded "though focused on West, the documentary ends up as the latest grim snapshot of a nation rapidly sliding into chaos and far-right lunacy".
October 27th 2025 Azhar presentedBehind Bars: Sex, Bribes and Murder. A 2- Part documentary about England's prisons for the BBC. This investigation was fuelled by a viral video featuring a female prison officer and an inmate having sex inside HMP Wandsworth.
In May 2017, Azhar won aBritish Academy Television Award for his work as a producer on the BBC seriesMuslims Like Us.[45][46]
In 2018, Azhar's show on theBBC Asian Network won Best Radio Show at the Asian Media Awards.[47]
In June 2019, Azhar won the firstSandford St Martin Journalism Award for his BBC radio programmeThe Dawn of British Jihad.[48]
In 2020, Azhar won theRoyal Television Society 'Presenter of the Year' award forHometown: A Killing.[49] In the same year, he also won 'Best Presenter' at theGrierson Awards for the same documentary series.[50]
Azhar has won anAmnesty International award forPanorama: The Secret Drone War.[51]
He has also been nominated for a Foreign Press Association Award for hisBBC Radio 4 programmeFatwa, and for his documentaryInside Gay Pakistan.[52][53]
In August 2022, Azhar received an honorary fellowship atLeeds Trinity University, where he studied journalism for the first time in 18 years.[54]
In September 2023, Azhar received the Freedom of Press Award from The Foreign Correspondence Club of Japan for his documentaryPredator: The Secret Scandal of J-Pop.
Azhar is openly gay,[55] and a Muslim.[56] He is an avid fan of musicianPrince and horror films.[57][58][59]